What My Heart Told Me
by Element's Sole Protector
Summary: Why DID Yusei stop Krieger from killing Goodwin, anyway? Akiza would certainly like to know. No, there are NOT pairings!


Yu-gi-oh! 5D's! YAAAAY!!!

…In retrospect, I probably shouldn't be writing fanfiction for a _spin-off_ before the greatness of the original, but I don't think I can write Yu-gi-oh! fanfiction at the moment without embarrassing myself.

Anyway… If I owned 5D's, we'd see non-dubbed episodes in the States (for the last time, we CAN handle it!), I would already own the first season's box set, they would _not_ have started to show twenty-six reruns starting March 14, and Yusei would have pwn'd more than two people with Stardust Dragon by now. :D

I do not own Yu-gi-oh! 5D's, because if I did I would cry with the intangible joy of owning the confirmed five Signers. Well, 'confirmed' as of Episode 26, if 4Kids isn't just messing with my deepest desire for Goodwin to be one. (I wouldn't put it past them.)

Oh, yeah--Wikipedia says Akiza's hair is violet, but I wrote this before I knew that, so... (shrugs) And you know, people say it's either 'Krieger' or 'Grieger', but I hear the former when the PR is mouthing off at his precious microphone each Saturday. If I'm wrong... whoops.

This is set after Episode 21 of the English version, which had one of the most awesome endings _ever_.

* * *

**What My Heart Told Me**

* * *

"And now on to the second duel of the semifinals!"

The flustered announcer, trying to regain his reeling audience's attention, almost danced his way through the next set of words, struggling to bring crowd focus away from Rex Goodwin and to the final pair of duelists.

"Krieger has lost his place in the Fortune Cup, while Yusei Fudo moves on to secure a spot in the finals! Who will be his opponent?

"Will it be--"

He swept a hand to the male duelist, a calm-looking one with pale gray hair and intelligent eyes, whose face had promptly appeared on screens around the stadium.

"--the duelist well-known as Commander Koda? _Or_..."

The screen switched pictures; a pale young woman with long, dark pink hair held in a tie and intense brown eyes appeared, her mouth set in an apparently permanent frown.

"--will it be our mystery, that female powerhouse, the frightening and fierce Black Ro--"

The screen in the announcer's box suddenly flickered on and into view with a sharp _snap_--Goodwin's face and upper profile was visible, and both had a furious air to them.

"Silence. You will _not_ address _or_ introduce the young woman in that way. Rephrase."

The announcer choked, sputtered, and quickly corrected himself: "--ahem, the _fierce_ Akiza Izinski! If both contestants are ready, then please proceed to the stage at once!"

Relieved for the moment of his speaking duties, the announcer glanced down over the heads of the cheering and jeering crowd; finding no Black Rose Witch to speak of, he at last yielded to his still-churning thoughts and gazed up at the partly-broken glass tower, his eyes roving, searching...

He was jolted out of this near-trance when Goodwin's patronizing voice echoed from the screen still next to him. "Already you have shown me your incompetance by losing the control and power of a simple microphone. Do not deem to disappoint me again--understand?"

"Yes, sir!"

He then realized that his newly-regained microphone was still on--and blushed hotly as his promise was echoed around the stadium by hundreds of finely-tuned sound boxes.

Goodwin made a sound like an angry sigh--he then pressed the hand, his mechanical hand, against his head in a _You're hopeless_ manner before turning off his screen.

The MC was left gawking at a black screen that had seconds before shown him the truth of what he and the audience had seen at the end of the Satellite's duel. Goodwin had a metal arm, he'd apparently made an entire village fatal subjects for an experiment, and he was now finished venting some of his anger into the man who had caused this mass mishap in the first place.

And he himself had only a little to think about, now that he had been partially forgiven, now that the storm was rumbling past.

_Whew. Glad _that's_ over_...

* * *

Watching the events of the arena in the quiet hallway, Yusei Fudo smiled.

He felt rather relieved to be out of the crowd's puzzled scrutiny--a split-second decision had turned him into some kind of hero, something he instantly despised--particularly since they'd been telling him what scum he was a moment before. All that mattered to him was being one step closer to dueling Jack, to reclaiming truly his honor and his dragon.

_Speaking of..._ He pulled out his Stardust Dragon, stared at the card a moment. Though it felt good to hold the card in his hand once more after two long years, Yusei couldn't help but feel as though his dragon was still under Jack's thumb, that though the card was rightfully his he as of yet held no claim to it. _But that won't matter for too much longer. One more duel, and I'll be facing down Jack. One more duel and I'll as good as get my Stardust Dragon back...then I'm out of here. Back to my friends. Back to where I belong._

"Nice dragon you've got there."

Yusei whirled; his deep blue eyes focused on Krieger, who had a wistful sort of smile.

"Thanks."

"Stardust Dragon, right? I've heard that card's quite good. Piece of advice: guard it jealously, Yusei."

"I will." _Especially since I didn't guard it jealously _enough_ before._

He was cautious around Krieger now; though the only anger he had shown toward Yusei was on the dueling field was immediately after he had diverted Krieger's attack on Goodwin, he didn't know what would happen now--without witnesses.

He ran a hand through his black-and-gold hair, then looked intently into Krieger's hazel eyes; his voice was earnest. "Krieger--I promised you that I would get Goodwin to answer to you someday, and I will. Honestly--don't endanger yourself like that again, okay? I'll handle this."

"Really?" Krieger glanced skeptically his way. "Think you have enough power to topple him from his own little throne?"

"I don't _have_ to topple him," Yusei countered swiftly. "But I promise, Krieger, outright violence won't please your family. I can't unseat Goodwin--that much is obvious--but I _can_ make sure that he always regrets what he did to you. Not today... not now... but soon. ...Okay?"

Krieger merely turned and walked away with a shrug. But Yusei distinctly saw his shoulders tremble.

* * *

He went next to the room he had been directed to; Lazar, looking rather frazzled after his shared near-death encounter, had headed him off on the way to securing his Duel Runner and informed him that he, as a finalist, was privy to a fancy, refined room in the upper levels of the building, where he could do as he pleased "with restrictions, of course". He said it in such a snide way that Yusei had to restrain himself from saying how glad he'd felt when the man had nearly wet himself during that scrape; he'd never liked the man very much.

Yusei was almost to the room itself when he nearly ran into the very person half the stadium was buzzing about.

"Welcome, Yusei."

_Goodwin?_

He regained his cool. "Something you want to tell me?"

Rex Goodwin smiled his peculiar smile. "Congratulations for making it to the finals. I must honestly say that I did not expect you to even make it this far."

"You and the rest of New Domino City."

"I'm hesitant to put my faith in your victory for the next match... but the fact remains that you have a quality that Akiza Izinksi does not. Do you not?"

"Not really," Yusei replied dryly.

Goodwin's smile didn't waver. "I'd suggest you rest up and watch the upcoming duel--either way, you will be facing quite a..._dangerous_ opponent."

"If that's what it takes to get to Jack--I'll defeat either one."

The Director said nothing, but Yusei sensed his satisfaction as he too walked briskly away.

* * *

The little identification computer scanned the blue of his right eye and granted him entry as though it had done so a thousand times before--_Goodwin's doing_, he thought shrewdly. The door opened into an extremely comfortable room, filled with cushioned chairs and one large television--on and showing the Black Rose's opponent approaching the podium. The Witch herself was nowhere to be seen.

Yusei found out why when someone knocked on the door--he opened it to see Akiza standing behind it, wearing a frown that somehow felt different from her usual, cold-demeanored one.

_She doesn't look angry. She looks...unhappy._ Empathy sprung up unbidden in him; it was easy for him to recognize confusion and loneliness. _Wonder what's up...?_

"You're Yusei Fudo." Her voice was higher than he expected it to be.

"And you're Akiza Izinski."

"Yes." Akiza's dark pink hair fluttered. She gazed at him, brown eyes into blue, as if soul-searching. Her pale, heart-shaped face posed a question before her lips even started to form it.

"Why did you stop Krieger earlier?"

Yusei's eyebrows rose. "Excuse me?"

She rolled her eyes, though not unkindly. "Why did you stop Krieger from killing Goodwin? Why did you protect him, when we both know that he aims to use you in his greater schemes?"

"It wasn't only Goodwin I ended up protecting." Yusei ran a hand through his hair, pondering his own actions--they passed his memory in sharp flashes. "Jack was up there, too--I have a score to settle with him, and I wasn't going to settle it like that. I protected Krieger as well--if Goodwin had died or even been hurt, something bad would have happened to him."

"Yusei," Akiza repeated, a note of impatience creeping into her voice, "_why did you stop Krieger_?"

He was temporarily thrown by the fierce, blunt tone of her question--but when Yusei _did_ recover, he responded quietly. "I did what my heart told me to do. I wasn't going to let a friend down in any way--so I had to act, and quickly..."

Akiza shocked him by smiling--the first time Yusei had ever seen her do so. He took it as a sign of a truce, and smiled back. Unconsciously she fingered her pinned hair, still smiling oddly, before the television blared behind them--the announcer, and the audience, were looking for the Black Rose Witch.

The girl in question sighed, strapped on her Duel Disc, and started walking away in silent farewell--a thought occurred to Yusei that made him smile, and call to her.

"I'll see you in the finals, Black Rose."

"...Yes, I expect you will."

* * *

_~Finis~_


End file.
